Gritty New York City—Crime, Horror, Drama
The best of the dark films set in the grimy, gloomy New York of the 1960s-1980s.
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44 titles
- DirectorMartin ScorseseStarsGriffin DunneRosanna ArquetteVerna BloomAn ordinary word processor has the worst night of his life after he agrees to visit a girl in Soho he met that evening at a coffee shop.
- DirectorRobert ButlerSidney J. FurieStarsJames BrolinCliff GormanRichard S. CastellanoA tough, New York City ex-cop relentlessly searches for his kidnapped teenage daughter whom is held by a twisted psycho after mistaking her for the daughter of a wealthy businessman.
- DirectorWilliam LustigStarsJoe SpinellCaroline MunroAbigail ClaytonA psychopathic man goes on a killing and mutilation spree in New York City.
- DirectorAbel FerraraStarsZoë LundBogeyAlbert SinkysA timid and mute seamstress goes insane after being attacked and raped twice in one day, in which she takes to the streets of New York City after dark and randomly shoots men with a .45 caliber pistol.
- DirectorWilliam FriedkinStarsGene HackmanRoy ScheiderFernando ReyA pair of NYPD detectives in the Narcotics Bureau stumble onto a heroin smuggling ring based in Marseilles, but stopping them and capturing their leaders proves an elusive goal.
- DirectorAllen BaronStarsAllen BaronMolly McCarthyLarry TuckerA hired killer from Cleveland has a job to do on a second-string mob boss in New York, but a special girl from his past and a gun dealer with pet rats get in his way.
- DirectorJohn SaylesStarsJoe MortonDaryl EdwardsRosanna CarterA mute alien with the appearance of a black human is chased by outer-space bounty hunters through the streets of Harlem.
- DirectorWilliam FriedkinStarsAl PacinoPaul SorvinoKaren AllenA police officer goes undercover in the underground S&M gay subculture of New York City to catch a serial killer who is preying on gay men.
- DirectorJames TobackStarsHarvey KeitelTisa FarrowJim BrownA dysfunctional young man is pulled between loyalties to his Italian mob-connected loan-shark father and his mentally-disturbed Jewish concert-pianist mother.
- DirectorDaniel PetrieStarsPaul NewmanEdward AsnerKen WahlIn New York City, South Bronx's main police precinct is nicknamed Fort Apache by its employees who feel like troopers surrounded by hostiles in a wild west isolated outpost.
- DirectorJoseph SargentStarsWalter MatthauRobert ShawMartin BalsamFour armed men hijack a New York City subway car and demand a ransom for the passengers. The city's police are faced with a conundrum: Even if it's paid, how could they get away?
- DirectorHal AshbyStarsBeau BridgesLee GrantDiana SandsAt the age of 29, Elgar Enders (Beau Bridges) "runs away" from home. This running away consists of buying a building in a black ghetto in the Park Slope section of Brooklyn. Initially, his intention is to evict the black tenants and convert it into a posh flat. But Elgar is not one to be bound by yesterday's urges, and soon he has other thoughts on his mind. He's grown fond of the black tenants and particularly of Fanny (Diana Sands), the wife of a black radical; he's maybe fallen in love with Lanie (Marki Bey), a mixed race girl; he's lost interest in redecorating his home. Joyce (Lee Grant), his mother has not relinquished this interest and in one of the film's most hilarious sequences gives her MasterCharge card to Marge (Pearl Bailey), a black tenant and appoints her decorator.
- DirectorMartin ScorseseStarsRobert De NiroHarvey KeitelDavid ProvalIn New York City's Little Italy, a devoutly Catholic mobster must reconcile his desire for power, his feelings for his epileptic lover, and his devotion to his troublesome friend.
- DirectorMichael WadleighStarsAlbert FinneyDiane VenoraEdward James OlmosA New York cop investigates a series of brutal deaths that resemble animal attacks.
- DirectorBruce MalmuthGary NelsonStarsSylvester StalloneRutger HauerBilly Dee WilliamsWhen one of Europe's most lethal terrorists shows up in New York, an elite undercover cop is assigned to take him down by any means necessary.
- DirectorJohn SchlesingerStarsDustin HoffmanJon VoightSylvia MilesA naive hustler travels from Texas to New York City to seek personal fortune, finding a new friend in the process.
- DirectorJerry SchatzbergStarsAl PacinoKitty WinnAlan VintFollows the lives of heroin addicts who frequent "Needle Park" in New York City.
- DirectorStuart RosenbergStarsEric RobertsMickey RourkeDaryl HannahTwo cousins unknowingly rob the mob and face the dangerous consequences.
- DirectorSidney LumetStarsTreat WilliamsJerry OrbachRichard ForonjyA New York City narcotics detective reluctantly agrees to cooperate with a special commission investigating police corruption, and soon realises he's in over his head, and nobody can be trusted.
- DirectorSidney LumetStarsAl PacinoJohn RandolphJack KehoeAn honest New York cop named Frank Serpico blows the whistle on rampant corruption in the force only to have his comrades turn against him.
- DirectorPhilip D'AntoniStarsRoy ScheiderTony Lo BiancoVictor ArnoldA tough detective who is part of an elite New York City unit is trying to find out who killed his partner, but uncovers a plot to kidnap mobsters for money.
- DirectorMartin ScorseseStarsRobert De NiroJodie FosterCybill ShepherdA mentally unstable veteran works as a nighttime taxi driver in New York City, where the perceived decadence and sleaze fuels his urge for violent action.
- DirectorJohn G. AvildsenStarsPeter BoyleDennis PatrickSusan SarandonTwo men--wealthy conservative Bill and far-right factory worker Joe--form a dangerous bond after Bill confesses to Joe about murdering his daughter's drug-dealer boyfriend.
- DirectorPhilip KaufmanStarsKen WahlKaren AllenJohn FriedrichThe Wanderers is a teenage, Italian gang in Bronx, NYC, 1963. They have their confrontations with other gangs. Drugs and weapons are uncool. Adult life awaits them.
- DirectorTerence YoungStarsAudrey HepburnAlan ArkinRichard CrennaA recently blinded woman is terrorized by a trio of thugs while they search for a heroin-stuffed doll they believe is in her apartment.
- DirectorAlan J. PakulaStarsJane FondaDonald SutherlandCharles CioffiA small-town detective searching for a missing man has only one lead: a connection with a New York prostitute.
- DirectorMichael WinnerStarsCharles BronsonHope LangeVincent GardeniaA New York City architect becomes a one-man vigilante squad after his wife is murdered by street punks. In self-defense, the vengeful man kills muggers on the mean streets after dark.
- DirectorSidney LumetStarsAl PacinoJohn CazalePenelope AllenThree amateur bank robbers plan to hold up a bank. A nice simple robbery: Walk in, take the money, and run. Unfortunately, the supposedly uncomplicated heist suddenly becomes a bizarre nightmare as everything that could go wrong does.
- DirectorSidney LumetStarsFaye DunawayWilliam HoldenPeter FinchA television network cynically exploits a deranged former anchor's ravings and revelations about the news media for its own profit, but finds that his message may be difficult to control.
- DirectorSlava TsukermanStarsAnne CarlislePaula E. SheppardSusan DoukasA small, heroin seeking UFO lands on a Manhattan roof, observes a bizarre, drug addicted fashion model and sucks endorphin from her sexual encounters' brains.
- DirectorAlex CoxStarsGary OldmanChloe WebbDavid HaymanThe relationship between Sid Vicious, bassist for British punk group Sex Pistols, and his girlfriend Nancy Spungen is portrayed.
- DirectorTony ScottStarsCatherine DeneuveDavid BowieSusan SarandonA love triangle develops between a beautiful yet dangerous vampire (Catherine Deneuve), her cellist companion (David Bowie), and a gerontologist (Susan Sarandon).
- DirectorUli EdelStarsJennifer Jason LeighStephen LangBurt YoungSet in Brooklyn during the 1950s against a backdrop of union corruption and violence. A prostitute falls in love with one of her customers. Also a disturbed man discovers that he is homosexual.
- DirectorAllan MoyleStarsTim CurryTrini AlvaradoRobin JohnsonTwo ill-matched teenage girls form a punk band and soon have New York City by its ears.
- DirectorLucio FulciStarsJack HedleyAlmanta SuskaHoward RossA burned-out New York police detective teams up with a college psychoanalyst to track down a vicious serial killer randomly stalking and killing various young women around the city.
- DirectorLarry PeerceStarsTony MusanteMartin SheenBeau BridgesLate one night, two young toughs hold hostage the passengers in one car of a New York subway train.
- DirectorAnthony HarveyStarsShirley KnightAl Freeman Jr.Frank LiebermanWith the provocation of her lovely half-naked body and strikingly lascivious speech, Lula, a sinister, neurotic white girl, lures to his doom Clay, a good-looking young Black stranger whom she has picked up in the subway and starts mocking for wearing the clothes and employing the voice and manners of the conventional white intellectual. At first Clay sees no reason to resist Lula's advances; only when it's too late does he realise she's using him, drops his "'white' disguise" and launches a wild, bitter counterattack on her and on the entire white race.
- DirectorArmand MastroianniStarsDon ScardinoCaitlin O'HeaneyElizabeth KempA young bride-to-be is being stalked upon by a serial killer in Staten Island. She gets help from a former lover, but will they manage to escape?
- DirectorWaris HusseinStarsShirley MacLainePerry KingDavid ElliottAn upper-class Manhattan divorcee comes to believe that her brother is possessed by the spirit of a serial killer who beheaded young women in Spanish Harlem.
- DirectorLarry CohenStarsDavid CarradineMichael MoriartyCandy ClarkNYPD detectives Shepard and Powell are working on a bizarre case of a ritualistic Aztec murder. Meanwhile, something big is attacking people of New York and only greedy small time crook Jimmy Quinn knows where its lair is.
- DirectorLarry CohenStarsTony Lo BiancoDeborah RaffinSandy DennisA New York detective investigates a series of murders committed by random New Yorkers who claim that "God told them to."
- DirectorJames GlickenhausStarsRobert GintySamantha EggarChristopher GeorgeA man's best friend is killed on the streets of New York City. The man (Robert Ginty) then transforms into a violent killer, turning New York City into a great war zone, and Christopher George is the only one to stop him.
- DirectorWilliam LustigStarsRobert ForsterFred WilliamsonRichard BrightAfter his wife and son got brutalized by a street gang, and a corrupt criminal justice system puts the perpetrators back on the street, a NYC factory worker teams up with a vigilante group to find some measure of bloody justice.
- DirectorBuddy GiovinazzoStarsRick GiovinazzoVeronica StorkMitch MaglioA dangerously disturbed Vietnam veteran struggles with life 15 years after his return home, and slowly falls into insanity from his gritty urban lifestyle.